With over 17 sports and 44 leagues offered in this year’s winter semester alone, it takes a lot of planning and a group of passionate individuals to ensure amateur athletes at Queen’s are able to fulfill their championship dreams.
Queen’s Athletics & Recreation (A&R) begins hiring for intramural positions in the winter semester of the previous school year. This year, the deadline to apply for the 2025-26 school year is Feb. 2.
One previous applicant was Jenna Kaufman, ConEd ’26, who spoke about her experience as an intramural referee and convenor in an interview with The Journal.
“In high school, I was on athletic council […], so I thought it would be something I could do and make a little extra money while I was at school,” Kaufman said.
As a referee last year, Kaufman was tasked with overseeing individual games in a wide variety of sports including dodgeball, tchoukball, and mega ball. Her responsibilities included signing in players, keeping score, and setting up and cleaning equipment.
A&R employs a large number of referees that allows for flexibility, and with intramurals occurring almost all days of the week, there are usually always shifts.
“You can just pick up shifts, which is super flexible, so you can work as little as, like one shift a week, or you could try to pick up a bunch if you wanted to,” Kaufman said.
This year, Kaufman became a convenor, adding additional responsibilities away from the individual game. She makes sure referees are showing up on time, helps deal with injuries during games, and additional admin work.
“I usually work about 10 hours a week,” Kaufman said. As a convenor, she becomes the go-to person if anything out of the ordinary were to occur, like a broken leg or anything more serious.
“If there’s ever injuries or anything, the refs can send me a message, and I can come over and help with filling out the accident report and being there until paramedics get there,” Kaufman added.
It’s also up to her to ensure there are facilities and referees for all games, a task that Kaufman recognizes can get overwhelming at times.
“Sometimes scheduling gets mixed up, so then that’s kind of difficult to deal with. Sometimes stuff gets overlooked, […] but usually it’s just a matter of, rescheduling them and sending out an email.”
Despite her responsibility, there are many people on staff, helping in a number of different roles. It helps not only alleviate stress but also creates a social and fun work environment for those involved.
“We’ve had staff socials and stuff, so that’s a great way to get to know people and just hang out outside of work. It’s a really good environment to work in,” Kaufman said.
Next time you show up to an intramural game, maybe thank your nearest referee and convenor for allowing your championship dreams become a reality
Tags
Intramurals, recreational sports, referees, Sports
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